A Neural Network and Kalman Filter Hybrid Approach for GPS/INS Integration

It is well known that Kalman filtering is an optimal real-time data fusion method for GPS/INS integration. However, it has some limitations in terms of stability, adaptability and observability. A Kalman filter can perform optimally only when its dynamic model is correctly defined and the noise statistics for the measurement and process are completely known. It is found that estimated Kalman filter states could be influenced by several factors, including vehicle dynamic variations, filter tuning results, and environment changes, etc., which are difficult to model. Neural networks can map input-output relationships without apriori knowledge about them; hence a proper designed neural network is capable of learning and extracting these complex relationships with enough training. This paper presents a GPS/INS integrated system that combines Kalman filtering and neural network algorithms to improve navigation solutions during GPS outages. An Extended Kalman filter estimates INS measurement errors, plus position, velocity and attitude errors etc. Kalman filter states, and gives precise navigation solutions while GPS signals are available. At the same time, a multi-layer neural network is trained to map the vehicle dynamics with corresponding Kalman filter states, at the same rate of measurement update. After the output of the neural network meets a similarity threshold, it can be used to correct INS measurements when no GPS measurements are available. Selecting suitable inputs and outputs of the neural network is critical for this hybrid method. Detailed analysis unveils that some Kalman filter states are highly correlated with vehicle dynamic variations. The filter states that heavily impact system navigation solutions are selected as the neural network outputs. The principle of this hybrid method and the neural network design are presented. Field test data are processed to evaluate the performance of the proposed method.